What is a PNG file?

ProShot Media Product Photography Blog

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

PNG is short for Portable Network Graphic, a type of raster image file that uses the .png extension. It’s especially popular with web designers because it supports graphics with transparent or semi-transparent backgrounds. PNGs offer lossless compression and support over 16 million colors.

Pros of PNG files.

 
  • PNG files can support very detailed images.

  • PNG files can be viewed and edited in many programs because it is an open format file type.

  • Unlike a JPEG file, a PNG image won’t lose any data when its compressed.

Cons of PNG files.

 
  • Because PNG files retain all of its original data, a PNG file will be larger than a JPEG or GIF. Larger files may cause storage issues or slow page loading times on the web.

  • Not ideal for printing. Does not support CMYK color modes.

PNG files for text.

 

PNG files can display text-heavy images very effectively. Scans of printed or handwritten documents can transferred to PNG with a high level of detail. Original image data does not get sacrificed during the compression process.

 

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Leon Olagh

Leon Olagh is an experienced photo retoucher and editor. He shares insights and expertise in the field of photography through his blog posts. His work reflects a meticulous approach to the art of creating and refining visual content.

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